Is Gonzo Being phased out?

[cahuenga]

I think some characters performed by Johnn Kennedy sounds like Dave Goelz, his character in Pajanimals is an example...the first time I heard it I thought it was Dave..

 

[mupcollector1]

Wasn't there a Muppet cruise in which there was a lot of the main Muppets but performed by different people? I often wonder how their versions of the characters voices sounded like.

 

[Drtooth]

I think some characters performed by Johnn Kennedy sounds like Dave Goelz, his character in Pajanimals is an example...the first time I heard it I thought it was Dave..

I still think it's waaaaay too early to say if something's up with Dave. The movie seems to have scripted less for Gonzo, while focusing on the Kermit/Piggy dynamic. And the loads and loads of characters they wanted to shove into the film kinda pushed each other aside. But the GLC appearance seems that Dave was unavailable (either filming part of the upcoming movie, or just not wanting to travel back and forth). I haven't seen all of it, I don't know which performers were and weren't there, but we also didn't have Scooter, Pepe, or anyone like that either. Just 4 of the main 5 and some chickens.

Tis but a brief TV appearance and not indicative of the franchise.

That said, I really don't buy Gonzo being forcibly phased out... we still have LOTS of Gonzo merchandise coming out. I doubt they'd bother to make Gonzo merchandise if they planned on getting rid of him.

 

[Drtooth]

Sesame Street is a special case. Some of the characters were phased out because, let's face it, they were one note jokes that served their purpose and the writers (and often performers) just couldn't come up with any more material. Cookie Monster eats stuff and The Count counts, but there's always something for them to do. But Harvey Kneeslapper ran out of pranks (and hurt Frank's vocal cords), the hotel staff just had no point without a hotel, and then there are those that aren't so lucky.

Muppets get phased out for 2 reasons. Mostly, someone dies/leaves and they go through a slow recasting process. Then there are the characters that work perfectly in one medium, while they just add up to the jumble of characters in a film. Too many characters in a film means a lack of focus on specific important characters. I loved seeing wall to wall Muppets in the last film, but the next film needs a narrower field of main characters.

Muppets Tonight suffered type one. The Mayhem Band had only 3 talking members (2, if you count Frank's on and off sort of involvement... that cost some of his other characters as well), Scooter wasn't recast yet, as were quite a few others and new characters had to be created to fill in those gaps. Add up Henson's desire to put Kermit out of the focus back then, and Gonzo and Rizzo (along with the new characters) rose to popularity. Funny thing is, those two characters were the most consistently on the show from the original cast. Funnier thing, we lost quite a few of those new characters too, especially Brian's characters. I'd love to see Sal and VanNeuter come back, but that would fall on Brian to rejoin the Disney owned Muppets or a recast of those characters (something tells my Tyler could be a viable Sal).

 

[snichols1973]

Statler & Waldorf had some online success with their "From the Balcony" webisodes, and there have been some online Swedish Chef videos such as Popcorn et al.

It would be interesting to see some new online webisodes of Muppet Labs with Bunsen & Beaker taking a hilarious look at 21st-century technology; I guess I'll have to check out some of the Muppets.com clips in the meantime.....

 

[mupcollector1]

This one is one of the only ones that I could find. I really like it because it really captured the edgy irreverent humor of The Muppets.

 

[mupcollector1]

Anyway, it doesn't really seem like Gonzo is being phased out right now. He seems to still be there. However if anyone, I would have to say Rizzo the Rat who's a little more rare now a days. Last time I seen him was the WWE special which I think was great and one of my favorite Rizzo moments . Plus Waldorf and Statler are kind of rarely seen as well. They had a part in the beginning and at the end but I prefer when they were more irreverent with their heckling. Like in the classic Muppet Movies, they were just placed in parts where you didn't expect them. Like in The Great Muppet Caper watching Kermit showing off his bicycle stunts "Look ma, no brains!" And them getting tickets in Muppets Take Manhattan "They're for the next train out of town!". I loved how they were placed in Christmas Carol as Marley and Marley and just shoved in front of the boat in Treasure Island. I'm sure it was pretty hard to figure out what to do with them but I think they were great hilarious decisions. Like The Swedish Chef wearing a pig mask "Well, how else do you think we were going to get him into this movie." lol I miss Jerry Juhl. His writing for The Muppets was so witty and cleaver.

 

[Muppet Master]

After watching the newest Muppet movie and reading about one of the latest Muppet t v appearances I'm starting to wonder are the slowly phasing Gonzo out? I would really hate this because he brings so much to the Muppets and I love Gonzo! Kermit Fozzie and Gonzo were great in GMC as a team, and Gonzo was wonderful in the Muppet show, sure I will say that he should have never had a leading role in MFS, but he really is one of my favorite Muppets, and I would hate for whatever reason for Gonzo to be absent.

I also realized this. He had head bowling and the scene where ,,, and Gary and Mary get him from his plumbling industry. Everything else was jsut short speaking cames here and there. I was worrying about Gonzo phasing out after watching it, but it's not just him. The rest of Dave Goelz's characters also were phased out. had the biggest part of Goelz's current cast of muppets and he had more lines than usual, and a minimal part. Besides Gonzhread,bo and Waldorf's supporting roles Golez had who only had one scene with one line of dialouge, who had one faint line and was pretty much a background character. had no lines for some reason and he was just a background character. This is starting to worry me, because I think Dave Goelz is getting too old to puppeteer at 67, but I hope it was just for this film and Goelz's characters come back to the spotlight in MMW. This reminds me a lot of when in Muppets From Space Jerry Nelson's characters had little to do and only Ubergonzo had a real part. Overal I hope Gonzo being phased out is just a phase, but the truth is Goelz can't puppeteer forever. I think it's awesome how he keeps on puppeteering even after 40 years, but probably in a decade or two unfortunatly he'll probably retire and I'll be real sad when it happens and if they can't find new muppeteers for ,,,, and they could be phased out. Imagine a world with Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy conversing while Gonzo's just in the background walking around. I could kind of see Bunsen, Zoot, and Beauregard with no lines, but Gonzo and Waldorf, SHUDDER. You know what this is freaking me out, thanks for the awesome thread, but I'm going to pop Muppets From Space in my DVD player to watch a muppet movie where Gonzo was the star, Bunsen and Waldorf were supporting characters, and Dave Goelz recieved top billing as a muppet performer, see you, gosh this is scaring me. PLEASE REPLY IF YOU CAN

 

[Bridget]

I also realized this. He had head bowling and the scene where ,,, and Gary and Mary get him from his plumbling industry. Everything else was jsut short speaking cames here and there. I was worrying about Gonzo phasing out after watching it, but it's not just him. The rest of Dave Goelz's characters also were phased out. had the biggest part of Goelz's current cast of muppets and he had more lines than usual, and a minimal part. Besides Gonzhread,bo and Waldorf's supporting roles Golez had who only had one scene with one line of dialouge, who had one faint line and was pretty much a background character. had no lines for some reason and he was just a background character. This is starting to worry me, because I think Dave Goelz is getting too old to puppeteer at 67, but I hope it was just for this film and Goelz's characters come back to the spotlight in MMW. This reminds me a lot of when in Muppets From Space Jerry Nelson's characters had little to do and only Ubergonzo had a real part. Overal I hope Gonzo being phased out is just a phase, but the truth is Goelz can't puppeteer forever. I think it's awesome how he keeps on puppeteering even after 40 years, but probably in a decade or two unfortunatly he'll probably retire and I'll be real sad when it happens and if they can't find new muppeteers for ,,,, and they could be phased out. Imagine a world with Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy conversing while Gonzo's just in the background walking around. I could kind of see Bunsen, Zoot, and Beauregard with no lines, but Gonzo and Waldorf, SHUDDER. You know what this is freaking me out, thanks for the awesome thread, but I'm going to pop Muppets From Space in my DVD player to watch a muppet movie where Gonzo was the star, Bunsen and Waldorf were supporting characters, and Dave Goelz recieved top billing as a muppet performer, see you, gosh this is scaring me. PLEASE REPLY IF YOU CAN

Now that you mention it, you're right. I did not hear or see many Gonzo moments in The Muppets. And no, Goelz cannot puppeteer forever. Personally, I really like his funny and weird moments as well as Bunsen and Waldorf. They are classics! Hopefully, due to the "running of the bulls", Gonzo will get a little more spotlight that their last film gave him.

 

[Duke Remington]

I also realized this. He had head bowling and the scene where ,,, and Gary and Mary get him from his plumbling industry. Everything else was jsut short speaking cames here and there. I was worrying about Gonzo phasing out after watching it, but it's not just him. The rest of Dave Goelz's characters also were phased out. had the biggest part of Goelz's current cast of muppets and he had more lines than usual, and a minimal part. Besides Gonzhread,bo and Waldorf's supporting roles Golez had who only had one scene with one line of dialouge, who had one faint line and was pretty much a background character. had no lines for some reason and he was just a background character. This is starting to worry me, because I think Dave Goelz is getting too old to puppeteer at 67, but I hope it was just for this film and Goelz's characters come back to the spotlight in MMW. This reminds me a lot of when in Muppets From Space Jerry Nelson's characters had little to do and only Ubergonzo had a real part. Overal I hope Gonzo being phased out is just a phase, but the truth is Goelz can't puppeteer forever. I think it's awesome how he keeps on puppeteering even after 40 years, but probably in a decade or two unfortunatly he'll probably retire and I'll be real sad when it happens and if they can't find new muppeteers for ,,,, and they could be phased out. Imagine a world with Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy conversing while Gonzo's just in the background walking around. I could kind of see Bunsen, Zoot, and Beauregard with no lines, but Gonzo and Waldorf, SHUDDER. You know what this is freaking me out, thanks for the awesome thread, but I'm going to pop Muppets From Space in my DVD player to watch a muppet movie where Gonzo was the star, Bunsen and Waldorf were supporting characters, and Dave Goelz recieved top billing as a muppet performer, see you, gosh this is scaring me. PLEASE REPLY IF YOU CAN

I see your points, but I think you're over-reacting, being over-dramatic and worrying too much.